A-A Eagles soar to D1 title

By Chris Brooks

Wednesday

May 30, 2018 at 12:27 PMMay 30, 2018 at 12:27 PM

Redemption for Alfred-Almond in finals win

HOUGHTON – Around this time late last year, the Lady Eagles of Alfred-Almond were step by step with then-champion Lyndonville at Houghton College. But in the end, the Lady Eagles fell a little short of the mark.

Heartbreak, the agony of defeat were just some of the emotions displayed at last year’s Class D1 Finals.

When the calendar turned to the 2018 season, the road to redemption for Alfred-Almond was officially on. It was a rough start, but from May 14 on, the Lady Eagles have been on a roll, winning eight of the last nine games, including a big 1-0 victory over No. 2 Bolivar-Richburg Friday in Scio.

With that, their ticket was punched. A return trip to the Class D1 Finals was on the brink, but it wouldn’t be Lyndonville this time around. Instead, it would be the team that took the defending champs down in the semifinals – No. 5 Fillmore.

The date was set, and it went all throughout the night at Houghton College, with the final pitch being thrown at 11:20 p.m.

Alfred-Almond considered the road to redemption, redeemed.

After Fillmore got off to a flying start through the first two innings of play, the six-seeds went right to it on offense, including a four-run sixth that set the tone as Alfred-Almond captured the long-awaited Class D1 title Tuesday night with a 14-4 win.

"This feels good. That was a big difference, as compared to being here last year," A-A coach John Gemmell said. "We were a little nervous, a little edgy last year, and we didn’t know how to respond to that kind of adversity at first. Now having that experience in a game like this, we were more equipped to handle it."

Fillmore (15-9) started the night red hot, riding the coattails of Macy Miller in the first inning as she collected two of her five strikeouts in the 1-2-3 start. On offense, they got the game’s first jump, as one run came across in the bottom half, that being Miller, who was remarkable at the plate with a 4-for-4 outing, a double and two runs scored.

"We had runners on in almost every inning. We were hitting the ball. Four runs in a title game, I feel good about. The way it started is with Macy. She’s been phenomenal inning after inning for us all year," Fillmore coach Jon Beardsley said. "She was on fire at the plate too. You can tell she plays differently. She’s pushing 200 strikeouts this year, and 15 wins. That’s something a collegiate pitcher does, and I’m really thankful we have one more year with her."

The five-seeds would carry their 1-0 lead into the third inning, but Alfred-Almond (13-6) took over from there, as they went on to score seven unanswered runs from the third to fifth innings. With a three-run lead in hand going into the fifth, A-A broke it open with a two-out rally, as Chloe Muhleisen delivered a three-run inside-the-park home run to deep right, breaking the game open.

"Fillmore jumped out to a 1-0 lead, and then they kept their composure, and we went off from there. When you can put runs on the board, and it’s a crooked number every inning, that’s hard for a team to keep up with," said Gemmell. "When they came back and scored three in the fifth inning, that was important for us to come back with a number to keep that gap. I’m proud of the girls of the way they responded."

Fillmore put up three runs in the bottom of the fifth to keep that gap close once more. Erin Mawn was responsible for the team’s first run since the first inning, as she drove in Miller on a single to the outfield. Macy Beardsley cut the Alfred-Almond lead to three with the bases loaded, scoring a pair on a double into right field.

But the response Alfred-Almond provided, was even greater.

In the sixth, A-A had its biggest inning of the night, stringing together solid hits with a four-run stanza headed by yet another big knock by Muhleisen – a two-run double down the left field line to cross into double digits with an 11-4 lead.

It was questioned at first on whether it was a foul ball, but it was deemed fair, resulting in a pair of runs. Beardsley says the hit took the wind right out of the defense’s sails.

"It comes down to our defense. You could hope that we can bend, but not break," he said. "Then where we got to the point of the foul ball earlier in the game that was called fair, it takes it from 7-4 to 11-4, and it took the wind out of the sails. We’ve played enough games where we’re used to this stuff. We just needed to play a little cleaner in the field."

Alfred-Almond would go on to put three more runs in the top of the seventh inning before closing out the win on a high note, holding Fillmore to just four batters at the plate before ending it on a infield grounder to secure the Class D1 title.

Ali Fancher picked up the win on the mound for Alfred-Almond, striking out six Fillmore batters. At the dish, Sarah Johnson led the way with a 3-for-4 outing and three runs scored. Muhleisen and Emily Noone each had two hits.

Fillmore was paced by Miller’s four hits at the plate. Erin Mawn added two hits, scoring once. Macy Beardsley had two hits. The ride is over for the Lady Eagles, as they close out the season by getting over the semifinal hump with a Class D1 Finals appearance for the first time in 10 years for a girls program.

"There was enough glimpses through the year that told us that we have a shot at getting here," Beardsley said. "We had a bad stretch at the end of the year, and we didn’t look well, but we caught fire. We had played clean, but we lost our luck today. Alfred-Almond scores 14 runs here, and we haven’t given up 14 runs all year in a game. You do that, you’re going to win a lot of championships."

The team will graduate four seniors in all, but just one starter in third baseman Annie Brazis, who will be joined by Desi Gonzalez, Aubrey Cahill, and Maddie Freeman at graduation. With the majority of the lineup back for one last chance, Beardsley is hopeful that his team can make it back to the Finals in 2019.

"We just lose Annie at third base, everyone else will be back. We hope to be back here again next year," he said. "There were a couple of girls that have some injuries, but they will be back for us again at full strength to help us make another run. I’m glad that they got a little anger in them knowing we didn’t have our A-game. That’s that competitiveness that they have. There at that point where a lot of them will be seniors. Hopefully this will open their eyes, and tell them that they can do it."

As for the other Lady Eagles, Alfred-Almond’s journey to a State title will begin on Thursday at 5 p.m. in Hornell, as they take on a very familiar opponent in Class D2 champion Arkport/Canaseraga for a trip to the Class D Far West Regional on Saturday.

"We’ve played them so many times in the four years that I’ve been here coaching. They’re a good hitting team, they can pitch, they can play defense, they can do everything," Gemmell said. "They’re a great program, and we played them a few weeks ago, and we didn’t play well at all. They beat us soundly. We’re going to have to pitch, play defense, and make the plays presented to us. Bottom line is, whenever they hit, we have to hit with them."

Alfred-Almond 002 234 3 – 14 11 1

Fillmore 100 030 0 – 4 12 2

A-A – Ali Fancher (WP) (CG, 6K), and Renee Yezarski.

F – Macy Miller (LP) (CG, 5K, 2BB), and Danielle Wolcott.

(Note: Tuesday night's game and championship ceremonies wrapped up near midnight, after deadline for print. This story and photos will appear in print Thursday.)

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